Women's City Tournament could see youngest winner ever

Published 4:18 pm, Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Danica Weddle hits toward the green during last year's at Midland Country Club in her match against Brooke Schlemeyer in the Women's City Tournament. Photo by Tim Fischer/Midland Reporter-Telegram

Danica Weddle hits toward the green during last year's at Midland Country Club in her match against Brooke Schlemeyer in the Women's City Tournament. Photo by Tim Fischer/Midland Reporter-Telegram

Photo: Tim Fischer

Image 4 of 4

Photo: Tim Fischer

Women's City Tournament could see youngest winner ever

1 / 4

Back to Gallery

There will be a new Midland Women's City Golf Tournament champion crowned today, and the winner may be the youngest in the 40-plus history of the annual tourney.

Recent Lee High School graduate Brooke Schlemeyer upset top-seeded and two-time defending champion Danica Weddle, 4 and 3, in one semifinal on Wednesday at Midland Country Club, and then 12-year-old Christian Curnutte defeated Trina Albright, 7 and 6, in the other semifinal.

That will set the stage for a final between two of the city's top young players when they tee off at 8:56 a.m. today at Green Tree Country Club.

"It just feels good," said Schlemeyer, who is 18 years old. "I played solid today, and we both played solid."

What helped Schlemeyer earn her first trip to the tournament final was a hot start that had her winning the first four holes of the match.

Winning those holes not only gave Schlemeyer a nice lead, but also put pressure on Weddle to take chancy shots to gain some ground.

"I was really calm, and it was really just like any other day," Schlemeyer said. "But I was really excited to play (Weddle), though."

Weddle said as the match progressed after falling behind, she kept putting herself in tough positions taking aggressive shots and those shots sometimes didn't pay off.

"Today for me was mental," said Weddle, who won city titles in 2008 and 2009. "She got up on me, and I'm not used to seeing that. I was struggling trying to get those shots back and making bad decisions. Where I made bad decisions, she made good shots and made up for it."

The loss for Weddle produced a little emotion, but she said that Schlemeyer had the better game Wednesday.

"It's very disappointing for me," Weddle said. "But like my dad said, 'There is going to be a winner, and there is going to be a loser.' Today, just wasn't my day."

Curnutte, meanwhile, continued to show the type of consistency that has won her many junior tournaments this spring and summer. Curnutte kept the match with Albright from producing much drama, and Curnutte said staying in the fairway was key to the whole round.

"The course didn't play too tough actually, but you've just got to stay in the fairway," said Curnutte, who will turn 13 in August and will be an eighth-grader at Midland Christian school. "It's an honor (being in the final). I can't wait, it's pretty exciting."